New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France, currently governed under the Nouméa Accord, located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, to the south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia and 20,000 km (12,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, and especially locals, refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou.
The geography of New Caledonia (Nouvelle-Calédonie), an overseas collectivity of France located in the subregion of Melanesia, makes the continental island group unique in the southwest Pacific. Among other things, the island chain has played a role in preserving unique biological lineages from the Mesozoic. It served as a waystation in the expansion of the predecessors of the Polynesians, the Lapita culture. Under the Free French it was a vital naval base for Allied Forces during the War in the Pacific.
Nouméa is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians, Ni-Vanuatu and Kanaks who work in one of the South Pacific's most industrialised cities. The city lies on a protected deepwater harbour that serves as the chief port for New Caledonia.
Ouvéa or Uvea is a commune in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The settlement of Fayaoué [faˈjawe], on Ouvéa Island, is the administrative centre of the commune.
The Caledonian Union is a pro-independence political party in New Caledonia. In the latest legislative elections of May 10, 2009, the party won around 11.65% of the popular vote, and 9 out of 54 seats in the Territorial Congress.
The Nouméa Accord of 1998 is a promise by the French Republic to grant political power to New Caledonia and its original population, the Kanaks, until the territory decided whether to remain a special collectivity of France or become an independent state in a referendum held in 2018. France would continue to control military and foreign policy, immigration, police and currency until that time, and afterwards if the population chose to remain French.
Caldoche is the name given to European inhabitants of the French overseas collectivity of New Caledonia, mostly native-born French settlers. The formal name to refer to this particular population is Calédoniens, short for the very formal Néo-Calédoniens, but this self-appellation technically includes all inhabitants of the New Caledonian archipelago, not just the Caldoche. Another "white" demographic element in the territory is expatriates from metropolitan France who live there temporarily as civil servants. Caldoches emphasise their position as permanent locals, referring to them as métros or as Zoreilles in local slang.
Maurice Leenhardt, was a French pastor and ethnologist specialising in the Kanak people of New Caledonia.
Two flags are in use in New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France. Up to 2010, the only flag used to represent New Caledonia was the flag of France, a tricolor featuring three vertical bands coloured blue, white, and red known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour. However, in July 2010, the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a wish to fly the Kanak flag of the independentist movement FLNKS alongside the French tricolor. The wish, legally non-binding, proved controversial.. A majority of Neo-Caledonian communes, but not all, now fly both flags, the rest flying only the Tricolour.
The Loyalty Islands Province is one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Islands archipelago in the Pacific located northeast of the New Caledonian mainland of Grande Terre. The provincial government seat is part of the French territory of New Caledonia, at Lifou, which is 100 kilometres (62 mi) away. The Loyalty Islands are a collectivité territoriale of France. The province's 2014 population was approximately 18,297 inhabitants living on almost 2,000 square kilometres (770 sq mi). The native inhabitants are the Kanak and the Tavu'avua' peoples.
The 2nd constituency of New Caledonia is a French legislative constituency in New Caledonia.
Charles 'Charly' Pidjot was a pro-independence politician from New Caledonia who was a member of the Kanak people. He was born in the community of Conceptions in Le Mont-Dore (New-Caledonia) and was the president of the Caledonian Union from 8 November 2007 to his death.
Jawe is one of the Kanak languages spoken in the northern province of the largest island of New Caledonia named Grande Terre. Jawe speakers are located along the northeast coast of the island, north of Hienghène and south of Pouébo; primarily in the Cascada de Tao region, Tchambouenne, and in the upper valleys of both sides of the centrally dividing mountain range.
Roch Wamytan or Rock Wamytan is Kanak politician from New Caledonia. He has served as President of the Congress of New Caledonia from 2011 to 2012, and from 2013 to 2014, and since May 2019. He was president of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 November 2018. Voters were given the choice of remaining part of France or becoming an independent country.
Déwé Gorodey, or Déwé Gorodé, is a New Caledonian teacher, writer, feminist and politician. She was active in agitating for independence from France in the 1970s. She has published poetry, short stories and novels. From 1999 she has been a member of the New Caledonia government, representing the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front. From April 2001 to June 2009 she served almost continuously as Vice President of the Government of New Caledonia.
Isabelle Tyuienon-Oujanou is an advocate for women's rights in New Caledonia.